Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an anti-climbing protection apparatus for a rail vehicle comprising at least one buffer which is supported by an energy absorption element connected to a vehicle frame of the rail vehicle.
An anti-climbing protection apparatus of this type is described in the German patent specification DE 10 2008 048 247 B3. The known anti-climbing protection apparatus has support elements extending in a longitudinal direction of a rail vehicle that is formed by a locomotive, said support elements being interconnected via a transverse support. The support elements are so arranged above the buffers on the locomotive frame or chassis as to be displaceable via guides, and extend as far as an end region of an elastic path of the buffer plates of the buffers. Thrust bearings, against which a solid structure of a colliding rail vehicle comes to bear in the event of a crash, are provided at the end of the support elements. The known anti-climbing protection apparatus requires a special construction of a rail vehicle or locomotive, and is therefore not suitable for retrofitting.
The European patent specification EP 2 033 868 B1 also discloses an anti-climbing protection apparatus in the form of a so-called buffer anti-climbing protection device, in which a funnel-shaped shell of rigid material is provided for each of the two buffers at the ends of a rail vehicle, and is so fastened to the vehicle frame as to overhang the respective buffer. The known buffer anti-climbing protection device preferably has two shell sections, these being formed as protruding catches. In the event of a crash, the buffer of an oncoming vehicle goes into the funnel-shaped shell, thereby preventing the buffer from overriding. If two rail vehicles having identically protected buffers collide, it cannot be excluded that one of the two shells, by virtue of its shape, could necessarily cause a degree of climbing and hence derailment of one or both rail vehicles.
The unexamined German patent application DE 10 2006 050 028 A1 also discloses an anti-climbing protection apparatus for rail vehicles, in which the rail vehicles have projecting shaped parts at the front of the vehicle. In the event of two rail vehicles colliding, these produce a positive engagement between the vehicle fronts impacting each other. A matrix of cells made from flat plates is provided at the front of each vehicle in this case, said cells being open in the direction of travel, wherein the intersection points thereof have greater rigidity in a longitudinal direction and the webs thereof have less rigidity in a longitudinal direction. When a collision occurs, the vehicle front of one of the rail vehicles penetrates the vehicle front of the other rail vehicle, resulting in interlocking in both vertical and horizontal directions. This anti-climbing protection apparatus does not function if the colliding vehicles are equipped with dissimilar anti-climbing protection apparatus, and therefore cannot be used in the context of interoperable transport.